Asian Cities Chess Team Championship to Begin in Khanty-Mansiysk on 20 April
It will bring together 15 teams from 11 countries.
For the first time in its history, the Asian Cities Chess Team Championship will be held in Russia, from April 20 to 30, 2024. The venue will be the capital of Ugra – the city of Khanty-Mansiysk, well-known for its chess traditions.
The Asian Cities Chess Team Championship dates back to 1979: the first tournament was held in Hong Kong and the winner was the team from Singapore. Since then, the competitions have been held regularly, but not annually, usually once in two years. The current champion is the team of the city of Tehran, which won the tournament in 2019. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Asian City Chess Team Championships have not been held since then.
The 2024 tournament will be the first competition of the Asian chess calendar that Russia will host after the milestone transition of the Chess Federation of Russia to the Asian Chess Federation.
Teams from 11 countries will participate in the championship. The lineup of teams is as follows: Iran (open and women's teams from Tehran), Iraq (Baghdad), Kazakhstan (Pavlodar), Malaysia (Penang), Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar), Nepal (Kathmandu), Oman (Muscat), Palestine (Ramallah), Sri Lanka (Colombo), and Yemen (Al Mahrah). Being the host country, Russia is entitled to field as many as four teams. These will be the teams from the cities of Moscow, Surgut, Tula, and Khanty-Mansiysk (youth team).
Each team consists of four main players (men and/or women), one reserve, and a captain, who can be one of the players.
An extensive excursion programme will be offered to the guests of the Championship in their free time.
March 26, the CFR stand at the “Sport for All” pavilion organised during the international “RUSSIA EXPO”,held a friendly promotional match between the teams of Moscow and Khanty-Mansiysk, dedicated to the Asian Cities Chess Team Championship. The Muscovites won with a minimal score.
On April 3, the Executive Director of the Chess Federation of Russia Alexander Tkachev and the President of the Chess Federation of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra, Vasiliy Filipenko, signed an agreement on the organisation of the Asian Cities Chess Team Championship. The ceremony took place in the library of the CFR Chess Museum.
Photos: Visit Ugra and Social media of Ugra
